Eleven PDX Magazine May 2017 by Eleven PDX

MUSIC, COMMUNITY, AND CULTURE IN PORTLAND

ISSUE 72 | MAY 2017

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE - VOLUME 6, ISSUE 12

COMPLIMENTARY

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE VOLUME 6

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits

ISSUE NO. 12

FEATURES Local Feature 13 Skull Diver

Cover Feature 17 NEW MUSIC

The Last Artful, Dodgr

4 Aural Fix Nightlands Klangstof Happyness

COMMUNITY Literary Arts 25 Portland publisher and writer Laura Stanfill

7 Short List 7 Album Reviews Slowdive Nick Hakim Mac DeMarco Aldous Harding

Visual Arts 27 Portland photographer Thomas Teal

LIVE MUSIC 11 Know Your Venue Tonic Lounge

13 Musicalendar An encompassing overview of concerts in PDX for the upcoming month. But that’s not all–the Musicalendar is complete with a venue map to help get you around town.

more online at elevenpdx.com

HELLO PORTLAND!

EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld (ryan@elevenpdx.com) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills (dustin@elevenpdx.com)

Dear Readers,

MANAGING EDITOR Travis Leipzig (travis@elevenpdx.com)

Gazing out my bedroom window the rain is still falling, for what seems now like at least a week straight. As I shift my focus from the overgrown cottonwood tree across the yard that’s just starting to bloom, back to the window sill in front of me, it feels almost like I can slow down time and watch the individual drops on their journey downward. Or perhaps that’s just the herb rearing it’s psychotic head. Anyways, the Portland Trail Blazers were just swept out of the NBA playoffs in a disparaging game four, Trump is still an asshole and the world is still fucked, but we continue to be graciously blessed with new, mind blowing music. Kendrick just dropped what might be the most critical hip hop album of the year. Slowdive return with their first album in twenty-two years. Mac is back, a sad old dog. And local hip hop luminary The Last Artful, Dodgr never ceases to impress–read about her latest goings-on in our cover feature interview. Dutifully yours,

- Travis Leipzig, Managing Editor

SECTION EDITORS LITERARY ARTS: Scott Mchale, Morgan Nicholson VISUAL ARTS: Mercy McNab GRAPHIC DESIGN Dustin Mills CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rosie Blanton, Tyler Burdwood, Matt Carter, Crystal Contreras-Grossman, Brandy Crowe, Sarah Eaton, Jameson Ketchum, Christopher Klarer, Kelly Kovl, Samantha Lopez, Scott McHale, Lucia Ondruskova, Gina Pieracci, Kelsey Rzepecki, Ellis Samsara, Tyler Sanford, Stephanie Scelza, Matthew Sweeney, Charles Trowbridge, Rick White, Henry Whittier-Ferguson, Wendy Worzalla

PHOTOGRAPHERS Patrick Chapman, Eric Evans, Alexander Fattal, Eirinn Gragson, Greg LeMieux, Mercy McNab, Andrew Roles, Todd Walberg, Caitlin Webb COVER PHOTO Mercy McNab

ONLINE Mark Dilson, Kim Lawson, Michael Reiersgaard, Chance Solem-Pfeifer GET INVOLVED getinvolved@elevenpdx.com www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx MAILING ADRESS 126 NE Alberta Suite 211 Portland, OR. 97211 GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com ELEVEN WEST MEDIA GROUP, LLC Ryan Dornfeld Dustin Mills SPECIAL THANKS Our local business partners who make this project possible. Our friends, families, associates, lovers, creators and haters. And of course, our city!

A2 • ALVVAYS • AMINÉ • CANDACE • CHANTI DARLING HARRIET BROWN • SHAMIR • THE COURTNEYS THE LAST ARTFUL, DODGR

LIVE MUSIC & MORE 3DaysinPortland_FestivalKV_Eleven_7.5x4.8.indd 1

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new music aural fix

AURAL FIX

up and coming music from the national scene

NIGHTLANDS MAY 10 | DOUG FIR

We are far enough into the future once implied by synthesizers that they can evoke nostalgia. On I Can Feel The Night Around Me, Dave Hartley’s synthesizers access the heart’s midi data. He also draws from the bins of ‘60s-era and earlier pop instincts for his slow-motion rock songs. The music covers a fair amount of ground, varying from a less exuberant Animal Collective to yacht rock on opiates. For its array of influences, the new Nightlands album is admirably cohesive. The music is smooth, zipped into a narrow dynamic range and consistently down-tempo. Hartley’s arrangements are methodical, with the beats in particular leaving vast amounts of space. The pacing allows for some complex harmonic choices. Chord progressions take jazzy detours, often via Hartley’s perfectionist layers of vocal harmonies. The new album’s cover photograph shows a silhouetted figure on a coast at dusk or dawn. The image is grainy, but with a depth of color. Similarly, there is a rough texture to some of the album’s keyboard tones and vocal treatments, but the full package sounds almost glamourous.

Photo by Jack McKain

KLANGSTOF MAY 12 | ROSELAND THEATER

Amsterdam’s Klangstof balances emotive, post-rock soundscapes with the trappings of today’s prevalent indie pop aesthetic: soulful vocal melodies, warped synth arpeggios and the occasional mid-tempo backbeat that makes the music danceable while remaining infinitely chill. It’s the kind of music you imagine hearing on a rainy day in one of Portland’s new ground-level condo coffee shops that’s all glass, white tile and unpolished wood.

Photo by Dustin Condren

I hear a slump in the album’s second half. “Moonbathing” veers dangerously close to millennial elevator music. However the final track, “Human Hearts,” is the clear standout. It’s a truly bizarre, electrified re-envisioning of ‘60s girl group pop. In another time, it might have been called “Human Hearts (Always On The Run),” as the introduction of that refrain and the groove it kicks in is an album high point. The lyrics sound set in a warped Springsteen town, as in the lyric: “Tommy worked at Harry’s Helicopters fixing choppers for the man.” Later the same melody is sung: “The river rose as we came down, with bloody noses running on her gown.” Though much of the playing is muted and cautious, the feelings resonate from the other side of the musical filter. It’s a dreamy album, a couch lock album, maybe even a morning album depending on your temperament. It deserves a close listen. » - Tyler Burdwood Close Eyes to Exit, the band’s debut release, came out last year on Mind of a Genius Records. The LA label boasts a small, impressive roster of forward-thinking, genre-bending R&B and hip-hop artists with which Klangstof’s slick aesthetic fits well. In a relatively short time, the band has been successful in opening doors to a pretty bright future. This year, they’re touring with The Flaming Lips and making the major festival rounds at Coachella, Bonnaroo and Sasquatch. Not too shabby for a young band from the Netherlands. All things considered, the band’s commercial success makes sense. They’re hitting a lot of pleasure points for the electro arena set, while also appealing to the more chilled-out reaches of the indie pop spectrum. At times the anthemic electronics come off as a little played out, but Koen van de Wardt’s vocals ground the sound, carrying a level of authenticity and apparent catharsis that keeps the music human. Indeed, some of the best moments on Close Eyes to Exit come when the sleek electronics give way to ghostly reverberations and de Wardt’s pensive vocals take center stage. Those moments when the dust settles best embody the band’s name, a combination of “klang,” the Norwegian word for reverberation, and “stof,” Dutch for dust. Klangstof opens for The Flaming Lips at Roseland Theater on May 12, one of five dates they’ll play in the Pacific Northwest. If enormous festivals are more your speed, you and a few thousand of your friends can also catch them at Sasquatch on May 27. » - Christopher Klarer

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new music aural fix

HAPPYNESS MAY 31 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

In 2014, Happyness gained a bit of notoriety when playing CMJ’s annual music festival in New York. A relatively unknown group heading into it, they received praise from NPR as one of the 10 best discoveries of the weekend. The London-based rock trio has since toured the world and allowed many more live audiences to experience their lethargic take on college indie rock. It seems almost problematic for the band to call themselves Happyness– sort of a grotesque, tongue-incheek departure from their art. The name, after digging into the group, serves as a listless reminder of a time that was, and not a time that’s now. But don’t let that fool you; the music is fun and playful. One particular line from “Montreal Rock Band Somewhere” stands out. They sing: “I’m wearing Win Butler’s hair / There’s a scalpless singer of a Montreal rock band somewhere / And he’s alright.” The lyric itself sounds a bit gory, but it’s the delivery that sets it apart. The voice isn’t angry or malicious; it’s melancholic. What we have with Happyness is a dichotomy

between past and present. It’s as though the closer they get to their idea of happiness, the more they learn that it doesn’t really matter; they’re fine with mere contentedness. That’s not to say they’re sad. They just sort of wade along as their lives happen around them. They have rock songs, and they have a lot of energy about them, but their underlying theme points in the direction of a post-ironic interpretation of their name. » - Tyler Sanford

QUICK TRACKS A “MONTREAL ROCK BAND SOMEWHERE'” A playful and wary tale of uneasy friendships and scalping Win Butler.

B “FALLING DOWN” A mellow track about all of the moments leading up to spilling your guts, and possibly deciding not to.

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new music album reviews

ALBUM REVIEWS THIS MONTH’S BEST R REISSUE

L LOCAL RELEASE

Short List At The Drive-In Inter Alia Black Lips Satan’s Graffiti Or God’s Art? Hoops Routines Nite Jewel Real High Perfume Genius No Shape The Afghan Whigs In Spades Girlpool Powerplant

Slowdive Slowdive Dead Oceans The quintet Slowdive put shoegaze on the map in Reading, England back in the ‘90s, releasing three albums before disbanding. For a while, the members pursued other musical avenues, but they reunited as Slowdive in 2014. Here we are in 2017, and they have released a new self-titled album, a mere 22 years after their last record, 1995’s Pygmalion. This means listeners who weren’t even alive during those first Slowdive

PWR BTTM Pageant !!! (Chik Chik Chik) Shake the Shudder The Mountain Goats Goths Wavves You're Welcome Do Make Say Think Stubborn Persistent Illusions Boone Howard The Other Side of Town

L Buy it

Stream it

Toss it

Nick Hakim Green Twins ATO Records

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Three years in the making, the much-anticipated debut full-length from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Nick Hakim is here. Green Twins follows up on a pair of self-released EPs, and the experimental LP is an intoxicating cocktail filled with layers of soul, jazz and R&B. The title track begins the record with soulful and haunting lyrics. Lo-fi recording adds to the bedroom sound

years are now being introduced to their dreamy, ethereal sound. The band’s name (inspired by one of lead vocalist Neil Halstead’s dreams) perfectly defines their sound, as well as this album's first track “Slomo.” It’s a vast and heavily instrumental soundscape, very slow and sad with ambient melodies and lots of repetition. In particular, “Don’t Know Why” and the final, eerie track “Falling Ashes” keep us hanging before finally giving way to harmonies from Halstead and Rachel Goswell. Rather than their sound changing with the times, it’s been textured with the technologies of looping and digital mastering. But Slowdive’s sound has always been innovative. Their shoegaze has consistently been more immersive and atmospheric than the genre norm, with lots of guitar pings and heavy bass nestled inside the now-nostalgic ‘90s fuzz. And yet, it’s also very clean, romantic and experimental. It falls into place with today’s chillwave trends, or it could be dubbed “spacewave” from the dark, traveling style accented with new electronic noise and a song titled “Star Roving.” » - Brandy Crowe

of Hakim swallowing and licking his lips, and the way he harmonizes with himself is a delightful trick on your senses. Hakim further pulls the listener in with the lead single ”Bet She Looks Like You.” It vibes on early Unknown Mortal Orchestra with a dash of Beach House. Hakim croons, “If there's a god, I wonder what she looks like/I bet she looks like you/I bet she looks like you." "Miss Chew" features the saxophonic magic of Jesse and Forever with jazzy horns and vocals that hit you deep in your bones. Like most of the album, this song begs to be heard on a nice pair of headphones. Then, there’s "Slowly," which starts off, well, slowly. Hakim’s vocals, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, build upon layer after layer to amass in a head-shaking, foottapping upbeat tune. A lot is going on, but every little piece fits the puzzle. Green Twins is the best debut album this music-loving writer has heard in a long time. Do yourself a favor and pick it up, close your eyes and prepare for musical goosebumps to crawl up your arms and take over your body. » - Wendy Worzalla

new music album reviews

Mac DeMarco This Old Dog Captured Tracks The Pepperoni Playboy is back at it with his fifth album in half a decade. Mac DeMarco recently made the move to Los Angeles (along with the likes of Kevin Morby and Meg Duffy) after having recently recording the majority of this newest album back in Queens, but upon arriving to his new city he realized

Aldous Harding Party 4AD Records Aldous Harding is a musician and songwriter hailing from a port town in New Zealand, though the name suggests some now-unknown, mystic 19th century British poet. In keeping with that impression, a listen to her self-titled 2014 debut, on the enigmatic Flying Nun label, revealed an obtuse, even cryptic symbolist at her craft. On that debut, Harding used

he wasn’t going to be able to just pull the demos out. This album was going to take a little more time. He needed to allow his new home to sink into him creatively and see what came out. As a result, the old dog pulled out some new tricks on his record. While he’s usually been an electric man, DeMarco used an acoustic guitar to write the majority of this album, giving it more of an analog/ unplugged folky vibe, and then coated it in synth. Perhaps This Old Dog showcases the best of both Macs. We get the poppy Mac from 2 and Rock and Roll Nightclub that we loved so much, but we also have the "Chambers" / Salad Days Mac that we met back in 2014. His songwriting is somehow simultaneously reliable on tracks like "One Another" and then surprising on tracks like "On The Level.” Most loyal fans of DeMarco know he comes from a complicated family, and he usually keeps his personal

simple, subdued folk structures as a vehicle for confessional songs chock full of opaque allegory. It’s 2017 now, and Harding’s longanticipated follow-up, Party, is out May 19 on 4AD. The album, produced by John Parish, is punchier and possesses a wider range of emotion than its chilly, spare predecessor. And yet, Harding, who claims influences as diverse as Scott Walker and Roy Orbison in addition to the usual suspects of British and American ‘60s folkies, remains ethereal and dodgy. The story of Party is told relaying between present and past: you get the sense of a long journey that’s finally over and done with. The young artist nervously waiting to get the new stuff in her head “on a disc” in “Living the Classics” has broken with the classics and forged something bold, seemingly not indebted to anything in particular. The British folk influence from Aldous Harding has definitely faded, along with that earlier album’s unrelenting lyrical bleakness. The defiant torcher “Horizon” is unlike anything found there.

life extremely private. But this might be the first time he allows listeners to peek at the emotion behind the curtain (especially on tracks like “On The Level” with lyrics “Make an old man / Forget about your tears” and “Carrying a name / Followed to my final day / And who’s there left to blame?”) but then again it’s hard to take a man seriously who’s dropped his pants on stage and put a microphone to his asshole. We could draw another analogy here, from one Canadian-turnedpatriot to another. A certain Neil Young wrote his masterpiece album Harvest after moving to Laurel Canyon, and that too was a reflection album showing significant growth for the singer-songwriter. This Old Dog is DeMarco doing what he does best: writing pop songs that are reliable and likable but doing it in his very own way, and this time in a seemingly more genuine and heartfelt way. » - Rosie Blanton

Disturbing, but compassionate flashbacks to the dark side of trying to make it and then trying to make sense of it (as on the title track and “What if Birds aren’t Singing They’re Screaming”) share space with easygoing ballads like “Imagining My Man.” The effect of these shifts between contented present and troubled past is a little off-putting at first, like the abrupt changes in register in Harding’s sometimes keening, sometimes smoky voice. The album suffers a little from, essentially, a little too much suffering. But like the odd music video for “Horizon,” featuring Harding’s mother in martial arts garb in the New Zealand wild, there’s unmistakable fire in it, and that’s what keeps it rolling. When we end up at “Swell does my skull/…Don’t want to be a sinner, no…,” the sigh has something backing it that’s raw and smarting, despite the comparative calm. Party is already one of the strongest singer-songwriter collections of the year. » - Matthew Sweeney

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live music

Photo by Patrick Chapman

KNOW YOUR VENUE Tonic Lounge | 3100 NE Sandy

High Water Mark and The Panic Room/Raven. The old Tonic Lounge sign was bright and bubbly, kind of like ‘90s clipart, but the new sign is more of a classic, apothecary tonic style. It shares a rune with its sister venue, High Water Mark, which applies to The Tonic just as much, if not more, because the symbol stands for “new awakening.” There hasn’t been much time to redecorate in the transition. “We un-lamed it,” says Trumpower, as he explains that new ownership ripped out the stainless steel that had

he building has been a rock venue on a spacious plot of NE Sandy Boulevard for decades, and some people may have questions about why the sign out

covered the natural wood. Currently, the venue is painted black, with a sitting area, fireplaces, and small bar up front. The back of house is still a huge cave of space with

front has changed a few times. I’ll answer these

questions quickly, because all we really care about is that it’s The Tonic again. A couple of years ago, the venue was in need of renovations. Enter a reality TV show that shall not be named, which turned The Tonic into some place called The Panic Room, which is probably the worst name for a bar ever. It wasn’t well-received, and in a last attempt to rebrand their business, the owners at the time tried the venue as The Raven. But it didn’t last long, and after its New Year’s Eve 2016 show, the business was closed. Now that that’s cleared up, we can talk about the new sign. This spring, the venue was purchased by Eric Manfre, the owner of High Water Mark Lounge, and Chris Trumpower, who was working as a booker and sound engineer for both Photo by Patrick Chapman

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live music

Portland band The Sentiments playing Tonic. Photo by Patrick Chapman

games, cocktail tables, and a long bar, leading into a deep performance room. One change is that visitors will only pay a cover if they want to enter the performance space. “We want to focus more on being a neighborhood bar with a good patio, good food, good beers, good service,” Trumpower says. “We are going for a way more chill vibe.” The Tonic’s new menu currently features tacos and an array of Banh Mi sandwiches. It will mirror the acclaimed fare at High Water Mark Lounge. “It was always a great venue,” Trumpower says, “and the changes didn’t really matter anyway, because everyone still called it The Tonic.” Trumpower, who has worked sound and booked for lost clubs Satyricon and Plan B, helped to design the all-new sound system, which includes high-end McCauley subs and line array speakers, and a massive drum monitor. It’s more than accommodating for a venue of its size, but fits the bill of dark, heavy, and experimental underground music. Sandy Boulevard was once dotted with punk clubs like EJ’s, Club 21, and The Blackbird (now The Know). With The Know as new neighbors, Sandy Hut and Chopsticks still carrying on, and The Tonic back in business, it’s a new era of Sandy Boulevard awesomeness. » - Brandy Crowe

Portland band Heavy City playing Tonic. Photo by Patrick Chapman

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live music MAY

MLK BLVD.

DOUG FIR

RUSSELL ST.

830 E BURNSIDE

TA VE

NORTH WEST BROADWAY ST.

PEARL

23RD AVE.

OLD TOWN 2

BURNSIDE ST.

25 18

MLK BLVD.

405

DOW NTO WN

3939 N MISSISSIPPI

GRAND AVE.

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MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

WILLIAMS AVE.

8 NW 6TH

VANCOUVER AVE.

ROSELAND THEATER

4 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31

SKIDMORE ST.

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MISSISSIPPI AVE.

2 6 9 12 20 24 25 27

1332 W BURNSIDE

INTERSTATE AVE.

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CRYSTAL BALLROOM

live music WONDER BALLROOM 128 NE RUSSELL

ALBERTA ST.

42ND AVE.

15TH AVE.

11TH AVE.

PRESCOTT ST.

FREMONT ST. 24TH AVE.

HOLLYWOOD

KNOTT ST.

33RD AVE.

28TH AVE.

D. BLV Y D AN

BROADWAY ST.

LAURELHURST 28

GLISAN ST.

BURNSIDE ST. 11 6

STARK ST.

BELMONT ST.

11TH AVE.

8TH AVE.

HAWTHORNE BLVD.

HAWTHORNE DIVISION ST.

CLINTON ST.

POWEL

L BLVD.

KELLY’S OLYMPIAN

8 9

1300 SE STARK

CESAR CHAVEZ BLVD.

LADD’S ADDITION

7 14

DJs in The Taproom (weekends)

REVOLUTION HALL

17 26

EASTBURN

1800 E BURNSIDE

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Melt | The Cigarette Bums | Cool Schmool Summer Cannibals | The Velvet Teen | Iska Dhaaf

1028 SE WATER

MORRISON ST.

RONTOMS

600 E BURNSIDE

9 16 18 19 24

BUNK BAR

HOLOCENE

1001 SE MORRISON

426 SW WASHINGTON

ALBERTA ST.

ALBERTA ARTS

MAY

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The Magnetic Fields 3-4 Grandaddy | Caveman 9 Portland Cello Project | Annalisa Tornfelt | Gideon Freudmann 20 The Strumbellas | Reuben & TheNEED Dark 25 Midnight Oil 29

TOFFEE CLUB

1006 SE HAWTHORNE

Indiepop Brunch (Sundays) Heavy Denim Sticky Toffee: House & Disco w/Bald Eagle Love Action: 80s Synth Pop w/Cisco Parklife: All-Vinyl Britpop Sticky Toffee: House & Disco w/Ben Skoch One Drop: Reggae & Roots w/Sicoide Sticky Toffee: House & Disco w/Jason Urick

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features MAY

Photo by Alexander Fattal

ALBERTA STREET PUB 13 1036 NE ALBERTA 6 12 18 20 24 25 26 27

THE SECRET SOCIETY 14 116 NE RUSSELL 6 13 19 26

WHITE EAGLE 15 836 N RUSSELL 10 12 14 16 18 19 20 24 26 27 31

LOCAL FEATURE Skull Diver

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lthough Skull Diver has only formally existed in Portland for a little more than two years, in many ways their music feels TURN! TURN! TURN! like it has been 20 years in the making. 8 NE KILLINGSWORTH It’s not just because Ally and Mandy Saxaphones | Lee & The Bees | Brumes Freddy Trujillo | Wet & Reckless | Chairman Payne are sisters who grew up making Layperson | Western Daughter | Vista House music together. The music they create Spaceheaters | Science Slumber Party | Bliss Beam as Skull Diver has years of experiences, Young Elk | Elly Swope | Fort Union Kissenchanter | Ice Princess passion and curiosity carefully woven in. Nick Jaina | Months It’s with this combination of experience Rebecca McDade| Anna Gordon | Minda Lacy The Minders | Mo Troper & The Assumptions | Boreen and carefully honed skill that the Payne Lithics | Angel Food | Cool Flowers sisters are able to offer listeners a The Dreaming Dirt haunting, reverb-laden lens through Plastic Cactus | Dim Wit which to view melancholy, longing and Yardsss | Long Hallways | Volcanic Pinnacles Mujahedeen | Sunbathe | Echo Ravine | Planet Damn loss. Skull Diver’s sound could HAWTHORNE THEATRE be described as eerie, heavy 1507 SE 39TH and psychedelic, but their pop Oddisee & Good Compny | Olivier St. Louis Raiju | The Devils of Loudon | Rhine | Ireshrine sensibilities are undeniably strong Never Shout Never and provide interesting counters to Kranium their discography as a whole. Both Destruction | Warbringer | Jungle Rot | Hellbender Wednesday 13 “Pornokrates,” from their self-titled The Birthday Massacre 2015 release, and “Bad Star,” the single from their upcoming album Chemical VALENTINES 232 SW ANKENY Tomb (out May 28), prove Skull Diver The Sweet Sounds of Rod Meyer & Guests thrive in paradox. John Cristo | Geometrosexual | DJ Secret Moves This only became more obvious The Hyenas | DJ Gregarious Decadent 80's | DJ Non after spending some time with the

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Payne sisters a few weeks ago, where their edgy, glittery image intersected the funny, compassionate, thoughtful way they spoke about the music scene in Portland, each other, Ally’s secret life ambitions and the darker side of partying. ELEVEN: Both of you learned several instruments starting at a young age. Is there an instrument that you feel the most affinity toward? Ally Payne: Piano for me. Mandy Payne: Piano for me as well. 11: When did you both start learning the piano? MP: We started really, really young. Our mom taught us. I remember sitting with Alyssa at the piano when I was eight and she was six, kind of learning together. That’s what we did to bond all through our childhood. AP: It’s the most flexible instrument, especially when you’re talking about songwriting and structuring stuff. Really, to be able to compose something out on piano, it’s so much easier than

trying to do it on guitar or any other instrument. You get the rhythm, you get the bass, and you get the melody. 11: Do either of you write piano for anything outside of Skull Diver? AP: I always had this dream of riding the bus with a really shitty Casio and playing really saucy jazz music. Just sitting at the back of the bus and basically composing for people’s conversations. The things I would do with my life if I had the time to do them are just ridiculous. It’s kind of creepy, but it’s also coming from a place of sweetness, but I would totally just follow someone around the grocery store with a keytar. 11: I’d be really into it, but I have met you. AP: Maybe I’d just introduce myself first and say, “Can I follow you around the grocery store?” MP: You guys, consent is so important. AP: “Do you consent and what’s your mood? I will recreate it whilst you’re in the produce aisle.” MP: Skull Diver does Fred Meyer. 11: Since 2015, and in the last year especially, you’ve played some really big venues and are on your way to having released two full-lengths. What do you both think has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

AP: I would say our biggest accomplishment is something that isn’t necessarily out in the public. People don’t see it very often, but you can hear it. Our biggest accomplishment in my eyes are the strides Mandy and I have made when it comes to production and audio. Especially in terms of complicated things like MIDI setups for guitar and honing in on some nerdy gear stuff. All of my guitars are customized to a T; I’ve built them out and ripped them out and done everything myself. And same with all of my setup. It’s all very customized and programmed. It’s really in-depth stuff that you can hear because it gives a really big sound, and there’s a lot of fullness. It sounds like there’s so much going on for three people, and that’s primarily because of the strides we’ve made with technology. MP: This specific thing is largely male-dominated still and so, with the bigger venues we end up playing, with bigger bands and the more opportunities

features ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE MILWAUKIE

MAY

Son Volt | Anders Parker Too Many Zoos Jean-Luc Ponty Justin Townes Earle | The Sadies

THE GOODFOOT 2845 SE STARK

Jimmy Russell's Party City (Tuesdays) The Magic Beans | Steve Swatkin's Positive Agenda The Resolectrics | Lowlight Funk N' Roses La Rivera Kris Deelane & The Hurt

THE KNOW

3728 NE SANDY

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we get, we want to open a door for women to do that kind of stuff and feel comfortable experimenting. That’s the number one thing people say to us after shows, “How did you do that? I would love to do that, but X, Y, and Z are reasons why I can’t.” And we’re like, “Yes you can. You absolutely can.” So, something we’d like to accomplish in the future is doing more to support women who feel they want to experiment with audio.

STAR THEATER 13 NW 6TH

ASH STREET SALOON 225 SW ASH

Photo by Sam Gehrke

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features

able to keep the sound very full. And have a lot of energy. She always pushes us boundary-wise.

MAY

LIQUOR STORE 24 THE 3341 SE BELMONT 25 DANTES 350 W BURNSIDE

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11: Regarding the glitter and leather and showiness of Skull Diver, how much of that is who you are day-today versus how much is presentation as a band?

FIRKIN 26 THE 1937 SE 11TH

4 Boone Howard Listening Party 13 The Adarna | Thunderhound

ROOM 27 SPARE 4830 NE 42ND 5 7 13 19 25 26 28

Erotic City Tevis Hodge Devin Phillips Band Kalida | Zindu Country Night w/Zach Bryson The Get Down Weske

Photo by Sam Gehrke

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11: When you decided to add a drummer to your lineup, did you feel like it was important for her to be a female? AP: It didn’t really matter at first. MP: It just didn’t work out. AP: So, we thought, we need to try and find a female drummer and see if it’s a better situation. And it was drastically better. I don’t know if that necessarily means we could never play with a male drummer; we’ve played with a few. It matters less about gender and more about who you click with. And for Zanny [Geffel] that happened the moment we met her. MP: She met and exceeded any expectation we had. We were like, “Oh my God. What are you? You’re amazing.” AP: She’s amazing. She’s spent the majority of her life studying music. She can play drums, play synth and sing at the same time, and keep perfect rhythm. It was the perfect accent for us to be

MP: I’m just going to say, #WOKEUPLIKETHIS AP: For us, a lot of our music and our branding is based on juxtaposition between the ugly and the glamorous. Everything counteracting: the ability to be in the beautiful realm and the dark, scary, fucked-up realm at the same time. A lot of our music is a lot heavier and involves really intense subject matter, so it’s all meant to clash and complement. MP: I think if you’re going to just show up and have that be what you do, you need to be the best damn person at just showing up. I think this because I’m a visual artist as well, and so when we do music and talk about our live shows– even our albums are a score for a bigger story –I always like having something visual paired with that because it draws you in. 11: Your new single “Bad Star” has a lot of pop elements in terms of rhythm and melody. Is that something we can expect on the entirety of Chemical Tomb? AP: There are definitely some heavier driving tracks; that single is definitely the poppiest of them all. The subject matter in that one lies in the lyrics and the story behind that song. It basically references a time in our lives

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when we were younger and partying all the time and basically watching a lot of our friends OD and die from drugs when we were 17 or 16. MP: One in particular. There’s a line in the song, “Love is just a game we play for fun.” And one of our really close friends growing up, he was a poet, and the last night I saw him, he was reading poetry and he was talking about how he doesn’t believe in love and that it’s just a game we play for fun. So, I put it in the song. So the juxtaposition there is this pop delivery method, because pop music is so powerful, but that song has some really dark personal meaning. 11: Is there a narrative to your albums? MP: The first album, especially the artwork, was about discovery and reflection and how you have to kill an idea you have of yourself to becoming something new. And our second album,

Chemical Tomb, is kind of about death and rebirth and becoming a feral thing that is kind of out of control. A lot of the lyrics on this album talk about a time in my life when I was a little bit of a feral being. 11: Since you guys have selfproduced and released two albums now, is there any advice you would go back in time and give yourself if you were able to? MP: I would go back and say, “Don’t be so harsh on yourself. Don’t be so precious about things. Don’t be so scared to release things.” Because you have two choices: you can release it or not, and you have to pick the one that’s going to make you happy. » - Sarah Eaton

SKULL DIVER CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW RECORD MAY 27 AT HOLOCENE

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The oozy melancholy of Chemical Tomb, the latest album from Portland’s Skull Diver, belies an almost obsessive curiosity that sisters Ally and Mandy Payne have honed over years of creative musical exploration. Full of subtle lyrics and understated flourishes, Chemical Tomb eschews some of the soundscape-y expansiveness of the group’s eponymous 2015 debut in favor of more structured, but ultimately less exacting style. Following Skull Diver, drummer Alexandra “Zanny” Geffel joined the duo, bringing a flavor to Chemical

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FREMONT THEATER Tomb that finds plenty of space for deft interplay. The result is a realization of a wholeness that the group exploits to its fullest potential throughout the album. “Team Stella Fell From Grace” opens the album with a meaty bass line and a sense of driving purpose. It is perhaps the best example of straightforward rock ‘n’ roll on the album, as the group essentially works through a gnarled deconstruction of that designation throughout the rest of the tracks. “Bad Star” retains the powerful bass line, but is instead accompanied by a lighter top half of fuzzy vocals and a poppier approach to the hook. “Parasite,” one of two affecting covers on the album (Nick Drake here and the Violent Femmes in the album closer), finds the group playing with dynamics and pace, avoiding the predictable crescendos and breaks that the ear keeps expecting to hear. Chemical Tomb seems almost as liberating for the listener as it does for the musicians. The musicianship is always apparent, while the songs themselves feel as though the outside world is being given a glimpse into the creative process. » - Charles Trowbridge

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odgr stands in the spotlight, pointing skyward. She flexes, shuffles and does a little dance, laughing. “What do you need from me?” she asks. We’re shooting this month’s magazine cover in the deserted Aladdin Theater with the house lights down, and I’m manning the spot, keeping it centered on the Los Angelesborn rapper, who seems comfortable as ever framed in the beam’s long circle. Light spills over her, back up the stage and across the folds of curtain. She gestures out across the empty theater with a little half-curtsy, and laughs again. Hers is a relaxed swagger, a self-conscious confidence that has a way of putting the room at ease, while also drawing the focus to herself. It’s the classic self-assuredness of the rapper’s presence, but with a sense of measured perspective as well, a wry acknowledgement of just how absurd the whole thing is. Her attitude is just as evident in her music, emanating from the very marrow of her February collaboration with producer Neill von Tally, Bone Music, put out by Portland’s up-and-coming Eyrst label. The album paints an industrial world in the faded blues of a working-class collar, its goal in large part being to dissect the ways in which the forces of labor and love feed off one another. Though not quite comedic, it remains tongue-incheek, well aware of its project and that the best way to approach the most serious of things is with a smile and a little sidestep, coming in just left of where you thought you were looking.

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After the photoshoot, we pick a row in the empty theater to sit down and talk. Talk we do, until the people from the theater let us know it’s time to go. We head back into the bar next door and keep talking while Dodgr steals a bit of charge for her phone. We get around to books we’re reading–she’s just started The Time Machine, though she’s not sure she’s a big fan of H.G. Wells’ prose–and soon I’m offering my thesis that most of the relevant poets these days are rappers. She nods sagely, stroking her chin. “That’s what I’m going for with my stuff,” she says. “I want it to be like Rumi. I want for you to hear two lines and it’s like, whoa.” She pantomimes an explosion out from her forehead, gesturing at an expansion which fills the dim bar room and hums from there into the waiting space beyond. ELEVEN: So Dodgr, is that what you prefer to be called? Dodgr: Yes, please, call me Dodgr. Unless you grew up with me. 11: Cool. So let’s start at the beginning. You’ve said in interviews that you're pretty much completely self-taught? That you learned to use your voice by imitating musicians you heard? D: Absolutely. The way I’ve perfected my voice is by me impersonating everybody, period. Whether it was a singer or Bart Simpson, you know. That’s just how I learned how to use

features national scene my different vocal ranges. And then reading, and you know, listening to a lot of popular music. I taught myself how to do everything, really, because I’m a student at the end of the day, and at the beginning of the day. I’m studying everything. 11: I also obviously want to talk about Bone Music, your album that you released in February. D: Shout out to Neill von Tally, because that’s a fifty-fifty effort. 11: No doubt. And I've got some questions about him too, we’ll get there. But so the name “Bone Music” is a reference to how people would smuggle Western music into communist Russia, etched onto x-rays. But what interests me is that most of those songs aren't overly political, at least lyrically; they're just love songs. And I feel like your Bone Music is similar in that the songs are mostly about love and relationships too, and it’s through that lens and this sort of sonic atmosphere you create that you reach these complex social ideas. I was wondering if you could speak a bit about that decision and how you chose to work with that form. D: Well, the one thing that’s gonna make people relate

䬀䔀䰀䰀夀ᤠ匀伀䰀夀䴀倀䤀䄀一

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䔀嘀䔀刀夀䘀䤀刀匀吀吀唀䔀匀䐀䄀夀伀䘀吀䠀䔀䴀伀一吀䠀㨀倀䄀刀吀夀䐀䄀䴀䄀䜀䔀䐀䨀匀 ⴀ 㠀倀䴀⼀䘀刀䔀䔀

at the end of the day has to be humanity, right? And what’s

䰀䤀嘀䔀䐀䨀匀䤀一吀䠀䔀䈀䄀刀

the one thing that links every human being, but love? And of

䠀䄀倀倀夀䠀伀唀刀㨀㐀倀䴀ⴀ㜀倀䴀 ⴀ 匀䔀嘀䔀一䐀䄀夀匀䄀圀䔀䔀䬀䰀䄀吀䔀一䤀䜀䠀吀㨀匀唀一䐀䄀夀 ⴀ 吀䠀唀刀匀䐀䄀夀 ⴀ ㄀㄀倀䴀ⴀ㄀䄀䴀

course if we were going to make an album about a blue collar worker and their lifestyle, what is the most important part of their everyday life, but love? So we had to tackle that, the issues that they’re having with their partner, and the issues

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that they’re having with themselves in their relationship. 11: Just as an aside, the original Bone Music was a rudimentary form of vinyl–do you have plans to press the album up any time soon? D: It’s funny you should ask, because I have like five copies of the vinyl sitting on my dining room table. Yeah, they finally got packaged and put together, and we’re putting together a release date very soon. 11: On that note, when you’re listening to music, how do

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you do it? D: In headphones, on my cellular device, most of the time. 11: Where do you stand on the whole digital vs. physical debate? How do you see yourself navigating that divide, and how would you ideally release your music? D: In the future, I’d like to always release vinyl, as long as I... well, I’ll always be able to afford that, because my life is only gonna get better from here, how ‘bout that? [Laughs.] Vinyl is a necessity, but who am I to say that we shouldn’t focus on streaming, because clearly everybody is streaming everything. I don’t want CDs. Tapes are cool for the novelty of it.

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features national scene 11: For sure. Anyways, back to the sonic atmosphere that Bone Music has, obviously Neill von Tally had a lot to do with the direction that went in, although I think a big part of it is how he left a lot of space in the beats for you to work with your vocal range. But how did you guys come to that sound? Did it take you a lot of refining, or was that the way it naturally unfolded? D: You know, that question is more one for Neill to answer, to be honest, because we both came to our own self-discoveries during the creation of the album. Lyrically and vocally, I totally tested myself, and I would say that sonically he did as well. Are you looking for our inspiration? Like how we came up with that sound? Because unless I fell asleep with Neill and woke up inside his brain, I wouldn’t even know. 11: Fair. I guess to be more specific, what’s your process like? When the two of you get together to write a song, how does that go down? D: So it can go down a few different ways. For a song like “Count On This,” Neill had the beat playing in the car on the ride home, and he’d played that beat for me before, and it didn’t really connect with me then. But for whatever reason it came on in the car and I’m like, “What is this?” and I immediately came up with that melody (sings the hook) right there in the car on the freeway, stuck in traffic. And as quickly as I was ready to dismiss that track, there I was writing the hook for it, you know? So it can be like that.

Or like “Oofda,” where we’re in the studio and Neill already has a beat ready, or at least a concept ready because that beat wasn’t finished, and I come up with a phrase like “oofda, fuck me like you use ta,” and it’s like, “Holy shit, Neill, how ‘bout you add some extra 808s to this, and make it sound this way?” It really just depends on the situation. 11: Part of how cohesive Bone Music feels is that it’s you and Neill all the way through. Do you see yourself continuing to work with primarily one producer for your projects? D: Neill is pretty essential to my creative process at this point, so if he’s not going to be my primary producer, making every single song on my project, he’s gonna have his hand in the final mixing of the song that another producer made for me. I just hold his opinion so dearly, so it’s kind of necessary for him to be around. 11: Sure, and I think that’s a pretty common relationship in well-made music, having a producer or engineer who is maybe behind the scenes and has their hand in everything. But I appreciate that you guys put his name on the project as well, because that doesn’t always happen. D: I mean, I have to. A lot of times rappers act like the producers aren’t the ones who gave them a beat to flex on in the first place. Like, how else would you have a place to showcase your skills if not for this person? So I’m very grateful to Neill. I’m very grateful to Justin Longerbeam too; he’s my engineer, and he’s pretty much the third voice on Bone Music, doing all of the sound design and making it sound as perfect as it did. 11: One of my favorite parts of Bone Music is the backto-back tracks “Housee” and “Foreclosed.” I was wondering if you could speak a bit about those two songs and how they relate to one another?

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D: So in “Housee” you have my character at this house party, possibly committing infidelity, and in “Foreclosed” you have what we are assuming is the voice of my spouse, pretty much saying that they miss me, and that we’re in this codependent relationship, and that they don’t know what to do without me there in that situation. When we got Natasha to sing the new version of “Foreclosed,” I thought it would be cool if she could maybe have been my subconscious possibly speaking, and maybe it wasn’t really my wife’s voice, but it was me thinking that my wife was thinking that. You know? How meta could we be? 11: Part of that pair of songs too, going back to love songs that speak on something larger, is that the titles are an allusion to this process of foreclosure and eviction and gentrification that’s happening all over. Portland is a city that’s expanding in crazy ways right now. You’ve said you’re dedicated to being here and being a voice in this community: How do you see that expansion of the city and your role in it?

features national scene D: It really depends on whose perspective you’re viewing it from, because from somebody who isn’t from Portland, I think that expansion can be a necessary evil. This city is not big enough to require 50 new sky-rises downtown or in Northeast, or wherever they’re building condos and stuff, but there are people who need housing, I know that for sure. So where we have new housing and people who need housing, how do we come together and make something happen? And then as an artist who’s not from here, coming to the city, trying to make a name for myself, I’m not trying to step on any toes, because there are people who grew up here in the city who’ve been wanting to do this for their whole lives too, and now they see someone from outside of the city who’s getting the shine that they feel they deserve. So from my point of view, the whole process is a little shitty regardless, but there’s a silver lining in everything, and with new people and new ways comes a new responsibility for your town, and for the town you live in, for you to make it into what you feel it can be. Just show respect for its potential. 11: On that note, what can we expect coming up from Eyrst? It seems to be doing its best to give some of those slept-on Portlanders that shine. D: Shoutout to Eyrst. Shoutout to Blossom, who’s dropping a project with Hot Sixteen this summer, which is phenomenal. It’s gonna be super dancey, super vibey. ePP, who used to be a part of TxE, a rap group that was poppin’ a couple years ago, got a lotta shine on XXL and any big hip-hop blog/magazine

you can get shine on, he’s got a new sound coming. Ripley Snell has a soul album about to drop that’s gonna blow everyone’s minds, especially since people know Ripley as a rapper, with Wine+Coffee. But this new album is a grammy contender. Seriously. Everybody at Eyrst is doing really big things, but there are people outside of Eyrst, and just around town in general that are doing great things, like Fountaine... Shout out to Amine, he’s not here anymore, but that kid is doing it exactly how all of us dream to be doing it, so shoutout to him. Words. 11: You just recently came out with a dope video for the song “Jazz Crimes,” from Bone Music. How was making that? D: So we actually shot that video back in November, and I did the Portugal The Man cameo in February, and they had the whole junkyard vibe, and I’m like, “Aww shit, their video is gonna drop next week and my video’s not gonna drop until like May,” but anyway. It goes with the whole story of me possibly harming my best friend because of what went on, and me running from the cops, and who am I but to act an ass with all of my comrades in a junkyard and start a bunch of shit with the local law enforcement? I dunno. I had the idea to steal the scene from Cape Fear, where Robert DeNiro is chillin’ smoking a cigar in the movie theater, watching a movie, fuckin’ with the family, and we found a way to get the Hollywood Theatre to let me post up and watch myself on the screen. I thought that was the coolest.

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features national scene 11: Are there plans for more Bone Music videos? D: We really wanna do a video for “L.L.C.,” but there needs to be demand for it. So, gimme that demand. [Laughs.] I’d love to do that video, but it’s a budgetary question. 11: Yeah, I mean, that song is from the perspective of an older miner explaining the game to his young protege... D: Exactly, and we have big ideas for that video for sure. Going into a cave and building our own legit mining set, because it’s hard to find a mine on the West Coast. 11: Man, yes. I’d love to see that happen. You and Amine were on Fallon; you’re playing with him in May, I actually just picked up tickets to that show... D: Ooh, good move. 11: I was wondering if you could talk about your relationship with him and how you came to work together. D: You know, I met him for the first time when he did a gig at Wieden + Kennedy last summer. It was before his record deal, before everything really took off, and that was my first introduction to him, and then he called me in November, and was like, “Yo Dodg, I need you to come to New York and sing backup for me,” and I was like, “Really, Adam? Cool, I mean you don’t need to ask me again!” And since then it’s just been, like, he shows me love; I show him love all the time. My album comes out and he goes on Instagram and plays a song from my album and is like, “fire,” you know? Shares it with his fans. It’s a mutual respect for sure and a very good working relationship. We don’t have, like, crazy rapport, where I’m hitting him up, like, “Oh, we’re best friends,” but it’s definitely love and respect. 11: Dope. Well that’s just about all I have in my notes… D: Ask me anything, Henry, I’m an open book. You haven’t asked me about Fresh Selects or Kenny Fresh. 11: Ok, OK. What’s up with Kenny Fresh and Fresh Selects? D: You know how pertinent they are to my career? Kenny Fresh is my co-manager. Technically, I have some stuff coming out with Fresh Selects this year. Like, Bone Music, I love you, but that’s nothing compared what I’ve got coming, ‘cause I’ve only got hits coming. For real, like, we’re not playing around, but Fresh Selects, the Last Artful Dodgr. 2017. »

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community literary arts Photo by Brian McDonnell

Presses, The Independent Book Publishers Association, Women in Portland Publishing, and I run happy hours for Portland presses and community members. In February, I started the Main Street Writers Movement as a way to encourage writers to build community at a local level, but we also have hubs across the country. With that project, I want to give writers the tools to build their own communities instead of seeing them stand on the sidelines like I did for so many years. 11: You are also a writer. How is your book going? LS: I’ve been working on my book for 10 years now—I know! It took me a couple years to find my voice, and what I wanted to do with it. When I started the press, I found myself busy with other writers' work, so I found it really challenging to work on my own writing instead of sending out five more galleys, or answering emails, or setting up author events when I had other writers counting on me. Now, at five years with the press, it’s time to invest in myself. I’m revising my book, and things are moving along very nicely.

LITERARY ARTS

Portland publisher and writer Laura Stanfill

aura Stanfill’s passion for community and books explains why she maintains such an unflinching schedule in a scene to which she gladly devotes her time. When she isn’t busy running Forest Avenue Press, Stanfill nurtures community at the Main Street Writers Movement, participates in several Portland literary organizations and still finds the time to write. Since planting its roots in 2012, Stanfill has grown Forest Avenue Press into the woodland of critically praised fiction it’s known as today. Her press landed on the national stage in 2015 after publishing Ellen Urbani’s Landfall, an odyssey soaked in the floodwater of Hurricane Katrina. Last year’s City of Weird brought her books back to Portland through a collection of pulp fiction essays written by Kevin Sampsell, Leslie What and others. Both of those releases exemplify the literary joyride of Forest Avenue books and highlight Stanfill’s playful personality as a publisher and cultivator of community. ELEVEN: Let’s start with your involvement in the Portland literary scene. Can you give the bullet points of your participation in the community? Laura Stanfill: For 10 years, I participated in the scene by attending events and buying books. Five years ago, I founded Forest Avenue Press so I could be another home for manuscripts. I joined the Pub West board a year ago, but I am also a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and

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11: When Forest Avenue Press publishes a book, how do you care for it through the publishing process? LS: Usually I like to have two years of advance time to work with an author. We do all the editing and all of that other stuff in-house. I focus on making sure our authors are as in on the publishing process and how the industry works as I am, so part of it is being transparent to our writers about the industry and what we do as a press. I feel by doing that it makes our writers more excited and feel more supported about who is handling their books. We are in it together, all the way through. 11: Now five years into being a publisher, what is something you didn’t know about publishing before launching your press? LS: This is my subject, and I can teach others about it by demystifying the process. In the terms of publishing, it all comes back to distribution. A lot of authors—and new publishers—don’t know how influential distributors can be in the terms of getting a book to market. I am over the moon about our distribution, because the sales reps understand our titles, aesthetic, covers, and they know how to sell our books. Before that, I was selling books out of the back of my car until Landfall in 2015. 11: What is something you learned about yourself by becoming a publisher? LS: It took me a year or more to call myself a publisher because I thought I was making it up as I went along. Part of that has been learning the skills of a publisher and making mistakes but ultimately owning the title of being a publisher. I actually didn’t realize the personal change that came with that, so the sense of confidence I developed from being a publisher has surprised me.

community literary arts 11: Can you name a pivotal moment in the history of your press that took Forest Avenue to the next level? LS: I was ready to take the press to the next level in order to publish fiction after putting out Brave on the Page in 2012, so I did open submissions for a couple months after that. When Stevan Allred called to ask me if I was willing to consider his manuscript for A Simplified Map of the Real World, I accepted his book, and that changed things for us. And the great thing about that book was that nobody told us we had to do things in a certain way. So, we put a map in the back, and Stevan made a story tree that connected the characters from story to story. We put his graph in the book because we could, and we hired a bookseller to do the illustrations because we could. That was a real revelation. 11: Does Forest Avenue Press originate from a genre or a sound that you strive for as a publisher? LS: The press came out of our grassroots desire to publish Oregon writers—as much as that is an aesthetic. However, the aesthetic has grown since. I actually remember reaching out to Rhonda Hughes at Hawthorne Books between releasing A Simplified Map of the Real World and The Gods of Second Chances about this, and I asked her, “I put out this book that’s completely different from the next one—what should I do?” Rhonda was able to tell me that I can create a spectrum of taste, and within that spectrum, my tastes in between is what the press represents. She gave me the confidence to figure out where those pieces are. Our aesthetic has shifted a little bit, but we’ve always been interested in story and language. 11: How would you describe a Forest Avenue Press book? LS: As we’ve grown, I think of our books as being literary fiction on a joyride. There’s this entertaining and fun quality about our titles, and they are paced really well. We have this backyard apple pie aesthetic to our brand too. 11: Landfall is set in New Orleans, while The Hour of Daydreams takes place in the Philippines. Aesthetic aside, it seems like your books are moving beyond the Northwest. Was this decision deliberate?

LS: It’s been thoughtfully curated that way, and we’ve been lucky that we’ve gotten the manuscripts we have. We started out with Stevan’s book that took place in Oregon, and then we went to Alaska, so we were set in the Pacific Northwest for a while. Our next novel, Carry the Sky, takes place in Delaware; Landfall is set in the South during Hurricane Katrina; The Hour of Daydreams is our first book by a non-Oregon writer that’s also not set in the US. So there’s been some movement in our books. 11: What transitioned your books away from the Northwest? LS: When we got national distribution to support Landfall, I realized we were a regional press, and we had only published Oregon writers. Once we got distribution through Legato Publishers Group, I wanted to open up nationally, and I wanted to look for more stories set outside the Northwest. Landfall was really the shift in that regional-to-national push, but we are still very focused on Oregon writers and the great bookstores we have here. 11: You recently came back to Portland with City of Weird. How did an oddball collection of short stories about Portland develop on a literary fiction platform like Forest Avenue? LS: I don’t think I would have done this book if I didn’t get a pitch from my cover designer, Gigi Little. In fact, if a straight-up sci-fi pitch came in, I would say, “That’s not part of our brand” and move on. But because Gigi blended this sci-fi supernatural idea into this pulp fiction collection about Portland, she related it to our grassroots Oregon aesthetic. I knew she was going to bring her literary aesthetic into the mix too, so it felt like a great idea. We were floored by the amount of submissions we received for that book. The writers had to write to a prompt, which was asking a lot from people to spend so much of their time to write a story specifically for this project. In the end, we had some tough decisions about what to include, but I think Gigi did a great job of curating it. I also think part of the magic of that book is that its pulpy weird fiction elements are in a more literary style, so that makes it very fun. 11: Where do you see Forest Avenue Press fitting into the PDX community? LS: I feel lucky that all of these wonderful presses that existed before I came along reached out to help me with my press. Individuals like Rhonda Hughes at Hawthorne, Cameron Pierce at Lazy Fascist and Kevin Sampsell at Future Tense became mentors and models to me by answering my questions. I also want to inspire people who were on the sidelines like I was for a decade, so I want people to know that they can do this too. Now I see my role as the person who can answer questions for others in our community. I’ve been trying to give that back to the community ever since. » - Morgan Nicholson

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community visual arts to find music and skateboarding at a young age. It pretty much consumed our lives. When I decided to move here, I was somewhat familiar with Portland, already having traveled here on tours with various bands. I was in my mid-20s and needed a change. I first moved into a one-bedroom on 8th and E Burnside with my friends Jeff and Lupe. They helped me get on my feet, and I stayed on their couch for a few months until finding my own spot. I was so amazed at all the music venues in Portland; I didn’t really have that back home. For me growing up, going to see a band meant driving an hour to the Glasshouse in Pomona or much

Photo by Mercy McNab

farther to Los Angeles and coming

VISUAL ARTS Portland photographer Thomas Teal

home at 3 a.m. I mean, I still get home that late now, but at least I only have to walk a few blocks back to the apartment. I don’t take it for granted. Having so many different options and things to do every day and night is inspiring. 11: What drew you to photography as a medium? Have you explored other mediums as well?

ortland’s accessibility to excellent music, interesting fashion and delicious culinary

TT: I’ve experimented with drawing, woodworking and

variety are a few of the features that

printmaking in the past. I started messing around with

make life here characteristically special.

cameras and taking pictures with my dad’s camera around

Photographer Thomas Teal has often

high-school age. I took a black and white film course back

been behind his lens documenting these

then and mostly took photos of friends skateboarding or

treasures to make them discoverable for the rest of us. His

from exploring around the desert. Once I started to travel

work captures the essence of these Portland experiences

more, around the age of 20, I realized the importance of

and products. Teale’s work has been showcased in Travel Portland, Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, Communion, Urban Outfitters, Ellington, Hand Eye Supply, Otter Wax, Thrillist, MusicFest NW and Columbia Business. ELEVEN: What brought you to Portland? How does being from a small town influence your art? Thomas Teal: I moved to Portland in April 2012 from a small town in the Mojave Desert, Victorville, California. There wasn’t really much going on in the town I grew up in. My mom and dad introduced me to art very early, and my brother and I were lucky enough

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"Thom Yorke" (2017)

community visual arts TT: In a totally different project, my friend Jordan and I filled the restroom of a Burnside bar with banana peels on a busy Friday night and documented the reactions of people as they walked in and out. 11: You have also photographed many live bands, including the recent Radiohead show. What is the most famous person you have photographed? Who was the most fun? TT: The Who and Radiohead are probably the two most legendary bands that I’ve shot live. I was pretty stoked to also have the opportunity to shoot drummer "Refused" (2015)

Colin Sears (Dag Nasty, Fugazi)

documenting the things around me. I was shooting the bands I

at his studio a few years ago. All in all, Refused at Doug Fir

was touring with both live and behind the scenes. But I didn’t

was one of my favorite experiences though. There wasn’t a

immediately fall in love with photography; it took some time

barricade between the stage and the crowd. Thinking back

and experimentation.

to all the energy that filled the room, it probably wasn’t the best idea to rent a $1800 lens with such a high risk of having

11: Do you think there is any such thing as “photogenic”?

it dropped or busted. I had to work hard to get those photos, fighting my way up to the front and dodging crowd surfers.

TT: I believe so. Photogenic doesn’t necessarily mean that

Ninety percent of the shots I took weren’t even looking

a person is attractive, but there are certain facial features

through the viewfinder. That sounds like a Wayne Gretzky

or types of body language that have photogenic properties.

quote...

Objects and structures can also be found or arranged to create a composition that is appealing to the eye. 11: You have quite an extensive portfolio of work at this time: photographing retailers, restaurants and editorial work. What has been your favorite project to complete? TT: Last summer, my girlfriend Mandy and I collaborated on a project with the local boutique Communion and Brixton. The series took place in Portland over the span of three months. I was tasked with photographing local artists in their creative spaces while incorporating the new line of limited edition Brixton hats into the artists’ daily lives. Mandy coordinated and styled the shoots while I art directed and photographed. Subjects included local jewelry maker Lauren Main of Revere, Jacob Carey of Dig a Pony/Century, woodworker Takahiro Moriki and hair stylist Rachel Krantz at Gold + Arrow. Afterward, I made prints and we held a show at Communion, showcasing about 50 images documenting the entire process. 11: Can you think of a funny story from one of those projects?

11: What has been the biggest hurdle for you? TT: Probably the transition into full-time freelancing. I worked in the service industry for a while, trying to juggle work schedules with last-minute editorial assignments. It was stressful having to find shift coverage weekly. Eventually, I was let go and was thrown into the freelance world. I was lucky enough to have enough clients to keep myself afloat; the timing was just right. 11: What is the biggest opportunity you have gained from all of these experiences? TT: Photography has allowed me to explore my city in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. Having the opportunity to shoot a wide variety of assignments has allowed me to meet some amazing humans. It has placed me in a lot of different rooms that I wouldn’t have otherwise had any business being in. 11: Tell us about your newest work and any projects you have coming up.

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community visual arts TT: I just started shooting freelance at a studio a few days a week. I'm working on catalogs for a few local brands in town some time in the early summer. I want to focus on new personal projects and revisit some old ones. I want to keep progressing with my work and just have a good time. Hopefully also do some traveling. 11: Do you have a favorite thing to photograph or a favorite style or theme? TT: I’m really into documentary and street photos. I get inspiration from images where the photographer appears to be a part of something by being present in the background and capturing images at the right moment. I’ve always been a fan of photographers who shoot skateboarding, and I’m also into the work that comes out of the Magnum agency. 11: Are the scenes you photograph always natural or are they staged? Do you have any preference there? TT: I wouldn’t say they are always in their natural state. I like to begin shooting things or people as they are and sort of build from there. I try to make it fun and find shots without having to alter anything by working with different angles first. There are times where it’s necessary to tell someone

"Paiche" (2016)

to stand in a certain spot and try out different gestures, but my direction is usually very minimal. If the lighting isn’t ideal and I only have a few hours to work with, I might have to manipulate a few things. I’ve shot a few shows where I’ve asked the lighting tech to brighten things up or switch colors, but only when it's completely necessary. For the most part I like the challenge of finding the right shot. 11: Are there any shout-outs you would like to give or any people you would like to mention? TT: So many. I’ve been lucky to work with some great people. Just a few that come to mind are Ian Whitmore, Kathleen Marie, Alyssa Walker, Julie Showers, the local magazines and alt-weeklies, Saga City Media, Chris Chase at Otter Wax and Marcy Landolfo. » - Lucia Ondruskova

FIND THIS ARTIST ONLINE WEB: WWW.THOMASTEAL.COM INSTAGRAM: THOMASTEAL

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May 2017 Featured Visual Artist Photographer Thomas Teal's "Mason Merlino" (2016)